Our FCS coverage is the home for the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards, predictive TRACR model and much more. Here’s a review of an exciting Week 5 of the season.
The devastation of Hurricane Helene put the college football weekend into perspective, but ETSU’s remarkable story of resiliency served as inspiration.
September was a month for the upstarts in the FCS, and that includes ETSU and others such as Stony Brook, McNeese and Brown.
With conference games taking over the Week 5 schedule, the title races are taking shape already, and the larger races with 10+ teams – the Big Sky, CAA, MVFC, Pioneer and SWAC – appear to be rich in title contenders.
FCS Football Week 5 Review
Dakota Dominance
While No. 1 South Dakota State (3-1) was on a bye, the other Dakota programs said bye-bye to the opposition with impressive performance in Missouri Valley Football Conference openers.
Second-ranked North Dakota State (4-1) won at No. 18 Illinois State 42-10 for its 13th straight victory in a one-sided series. Cam Miller completed 20 of 23 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 2 quarterback Cole Payton scored on a 73-yard run.
Fifth-ranked South Dakota (3-1) beat No. 17 Southern Illinois 42-13. Travis Theis and Charles Pierre Jr. combined for 271 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, while Aidan Bouman passed for 80- and 61-yard scores.
Ninth-ranked North Dakota (4-1) routed Murray State 72-35 for its highest point total since an 80-0 win over Jamestown College on Sept. 29, 1928. Quarterback Simon Romfo accounted for four touchdowns and running back Isaiah Smith scored four times in a 601-yard offensive assault.
(Here’s the full FCS Top 25 Scoreboard for Week 5)
ETSU Overcomes More Than an Opponent
If ETSU moves into the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll after being two spots outside it last week, the Buccaneers (3-2) will have earned it.
And it goes way beyond them defeating The Citadel 34-17 in a Southern Conference opener.
The trip from Johnson City, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina, is generally under six hours, but after setting out from campus Friday morning, coach Tre Lamb’s squad wound up being stranded by flooding from Hurricane Helene in the mountains of west North Carolina for more than 12 hours. Having traveled through dangerous areas due to the storm, they eventually made it into Charleston around 4:30 a.m. Saturday – a 16-hour ordeal.
In their win, Khamran Laborn rushed for 40- and 20-yard TDs, and Jimmy Bowdry scored on an 8-yard pick-six.
Big Sky After Dark: Montana, UC Davis Triumph
Montana was going to score whatever was necessary to win for the first time on Eastern Washington’s red turf.
Having entered with an 0-6 mark there, the No. 8 Grizzlies won a 52-49 thriller as Logan Fife passed for 364 yards and five touchdowns. They racked up 701 yards compared to the Eagles’ 551.
It was a big night of action in the Big Sky, with No. 14 UC Davis knocking off No. 4 Idaho 28-26 in the Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week. The Aggies denied the Vandals of a 2-point pass attempt after they pulled within two points with 44 seconds left.
Miles Hastings passed for 248 yards and three touchdowns and UC Davis intercepted three passes in the win. Idaho continued to have injuries at quarterback, with Nick Josifek needing to come in for starter Jack Wagner.
A Pick-Six and A Half-Dozen
UT Martin became the sixth FCS team to beat an FBS opponent this season, downing Kennesaw State 24-13. It was the Skyhawks’ second win over the upper tier of Division I (20-17 over Memphis in 2012).
Oshae Baker’s 63-yard interception five minutes into the third quarter broke a 10-10 tie. Patrick Smith rushed for his second score later in the quarter and finished with 123 yards on the ground – the Vanderbilt transfer’s third time above the century mark this season.
Stock Up, Stock Down
Stock Up: Talk about a September to remember: Stony Brook and McNeese – each 0-10 last season – won four games in the month. Stony Brook (4-1), under first-year coach Billy Cosh, finished it off with a 22-3 win over Morgan State as Roland Dempster rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns. McNeese (4-2) won 28-26 at No. 25 Weber State behind Joshon Barbie’s three TD runs.
Stock Down: UAlbany was on the opposite end of the CAA Football standings to Stony Brook last season, but the conference tri-champ and eventual FCS playoff semifinalist may struggle to get back to the postseason. They fell to 1-3 with a 34-10 loss to Maine at home, committing three turnovers while getting outplayed.
Around FCS Nation
No doubt the big crowd (52,323) at the State Fair Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium got their money’s worth as Prairie View A&M outlasted Grambling State 36-34 in five overtimes. Lamagea McDowell punched in a two-point run to provide the game-winning points. … Northern Arizona ended Sacramento State’s nine-quarter run without allowing an offensive touchdown en route to posting a 34-16 upset of the No. 10 Hornets. In the Lumberjacks’ fourth win over a nationally ranked Big Sky team since last September. Ty Pennington was 21 of 25 for 240 yards and two touchdowns, and linebacker Alex McLaughlin had nine tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. … ShunDerrick Powell carried the ball 25 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns as No. 7 Central Arkansas (4-1) defeated No. 19 Lamar 34-14. The sensational senior is averaging 199.2 scrimmage yards per game and has scored 12 TDs this season.
Jake Willcox’s three TD passes helped Brown (2-0) score the final 21 points of a 31-28 win over Harvard, which ended the Bears’ 12-game losing streak in the series. Ahead 28-23 with under a minute left, Harvard tried to extend the lead with a field goal attempt from the Brown 9, but the snap went over the holder’s head and was picked up by the Bears’ Nick Hudson, and they got the ball all the way to the Crimson 27 to set up Wilcox’s go-ahead score to Mark Mahoney. … Sone Ntoh scored an FCS season-high five touchdowns (all rushing) in Monmouth’s 63-21 win over Fordham. He finished with 15 carries for 136 yards.
Shane Dunning’s 48-yard field goal as time expired lifted Drake past San Diego 30-28, extending the Bulldogs’ Pioneer Football League winning streak to 12 games. It marked the second consecutive season they scored on the final play to beat USD. … Also in the PFL, Dayton freshman Drew VanVleet passed for 323 yards and five touchdowns in the Flyers’ 47-14 win at Marist. They scored the final 33 points. … Colgate junior wide receiver Treyvhon Saunders tied the Patriot League single-game receptions record with 16, but it occurred in a 27-17 loss at Penn. Lehigh’s Troy Pelletier first had 16 catches against Georgetown on Oct. 14, 2017.
With power out at Gardner-Webb’s Spangler Stadium in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tennessee Tech powered past the Runnin’ Bulldogs 52-21. Seven different Golden Eagles scored TDs, including Daniel Rickert on a 50-yard fumble return. … The effects of Helene forced the postponement of two FCS games: Alabama A&M at Florida A&M in the SWAC (rescheduled for Nov. 29) and Samford at Furman in the SoCon (no common bye until Thanksgiving week, when the FCS playoffs begin).
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